08 February 2020

Old houses, quick trips, and new computers

Boy, you all really get worked up in your comments about old French houses that have been given a new look (see yesterday's post and comments). I say: at least they didn't demolish those old houses over in Montrichard to build something new and shiny. And a thought: could it be that those houses' exterior walls, like the walls and interiors of many of France's big old churches, were painted in bright colors when they were built hundreds of years ago? Did anybody look at some the photos of the old half-timbered houses in the city of Troyes? Have you been to Rouen?

On another subject, maybe you are aware of the fact that Walt is in Albany NY, his home town. At least I hope he has now arrived there. He had a family emergency he needed to help with. One of his brothers flew to Albany from Texas, where he lives, and another from South Carolina, where he lives. And Walt flew in from France, with a long layover at O'Hare airport outside Chicago. It's hard to tell from internet weather sites, but I think it might be snowing in Albany right now. If all has gone well, his plane from Chicago should have landed at Albany a few minutes ago. I'm waiting for an e-mail or phone call from him. No news yet...

Meanwhile, I've been going crazy for a week trying to get my new computer set up and running. I made great progress yesterday. The first problem I had to resolve was how to clone the SSD that was my boot drive on the old computer onto a hard disk so that I could put that SSD into the new computer. It would need to have the contents of the new computer's boot disk transferred to it. Trying to do that, I learned that the company I bought the new computer from had prepped its boot disk using an outdated format called MBR instead of the newer, more flexible, faster format called UEFI.

This was my computer space one week ago today, with both the old and the new  computers running.

Running on the MBR-formatted disk, the new computer's operating system wouldn't recognize my external USB hard disks, where I have tons of files (including photos, films, and music) stored. I ended up having to reformat the boot disk and re-install Windows 10. Then I couldn't get a couple of other hard disks, which are external SATA devices and not USB drives, recognized by Windows on the new computer. It was very frustrating, because I really want everything to work at least as well, if not a lot better, than everything worked with the old computer.

Here's a photo I took just a couple of minutes ago. Maybe it doesn't look much different, but it feels different.

The new computer has a faster CPU, which I want to be able to take advantage of. But I need the hard disks to work too. I have spent hours and hours reading different web sites to figure out how to get it all working smoothly. And I had a breakthrough yesterday. Suddenly, by updating the driver for the new computer's SATA hard disk controller — it was almost automatic, but I hadn't thought of doing it — all the hard disks starting whirring happily. And I was happy too. Now I have to figure out what I'm going to do with the old computer, which is still in good working order. I guess I'll donate it to Emmaüs, which is the French equivalent of our American Good Will charity organization.

15 comments:

  1. Yesterday's wonderful half-timbered buildings must surely come under the wings of that dreaded organisation.... Batiment de France.... in which case I would suspect that the colours are from paint remnants discovered in the deeper cracks in the wood.
    Also, despite their bright colour, these actually fall within the "Earth Tones" spectrum... where either coloured soils/plant dyes were added to the limewash paint... which again points to something found.

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  2. On the computer front, it might be worth giving Debbie at IT Buffs a bit of feedback from your viewpoint.... I doubt anyone ever does.... and they have a techie dept., I have had helpful exchanges with [our 'phone calls - at the moment - to UK landlines are free... thank you Orange]

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    1. I will try to give the IT Buffs a call, once I hear from Walt and I'm sure that he's okay. He was flying into icy, snowy weather in the Albany NY area and I should have heard from him by now. No news except that I see on the United Airlines flight status page that his plane didn't crash but was many hours late getting to Albany from Chicago. He must be exhausted.

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    2. Poor lad! Wish him all the best when you do establish contact.

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    3. Will do. He's suffering mightily from jet lag right now. He left here just after lunch on Thursday. He arrived in NY at about 6 a.m. Saturday (France time — midnight in NY).

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  3. Just heard from Walt. His flight was diverted to Buffalo NY and then after waiting the flight continued on to Albany, arriving three or four hours late.

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  4. I didn't know about Walt. Kind thoughts sent but no hypocritical prayers.

    My eyes glazed a bit at your computer speak, but I did work it out.

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    1. No prayers, hypocritical or otherwise, needed. The person who was dying died on Thursday.

      Glazed eyes make a nice filter through which to view the world.

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  5. Glad to know Walt made it safely, if not very late. Cheers, young man! I do hope this emergency is not emotionally laden.

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  6. Thinking of Walt. Yesterday's weather up North was awful- glad he got to Albany. Glad too, that your new computer is up and running.

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  7. Oh, my, I'm sorry to hear that a family member has died. Sometimes, at least, it ends up an opportunity to see lots of loved ones.
    I don't know how I missed the news that you had bought a new computer, but great for you! I hope that story continues on favorably :)

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  8. My condolences to Walt and his family.

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  9. Sympathies to Walt, glad he has landed safely, if late. I don't understand the computer discussion,but I'll take your word for it.

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  10. Hoping that Walt is ok, hard times.

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What's on your mind? Qu'avez-vous à me dire ?